43. What do you do, though, when your cat literally licks herself raw?

She's had the shots, she's had a change in food, yet she continues to lick herself to the point of bloody, raw, furless skin. I do an inspection of her every so often, and she seems to be licking mainly around her nipples (they look sore) and underneath her legs (her armpits, to do a human comparison). Other than a slight heart murmur, she's in good health otherwise (with maybe the exception of her skin).

My son thinks it could be that she licks herself out of boredom. Dunno. Another theory is that she was a street cat who lived near a river before I adopted her, so God knows what could have gotten into her from that cesspool.

The next step is steroid treatment, which we're not too keen on doing because there is a risk of her developing diabetes. But we may have to if this keeps up. We've been lucky so far that nothing's become infected.